[ad_1]
A look back at this week’s Apple news and headlines, including new iPhone 16 features, iPhone 16 design leaks, long wait for M4 MacBook, iPhone’s Mac Mirror debuts, strong iPad Pro sales, EU takes on App Store, iPhone’s AAA games fail, and more.
The Apple Loop is here to keep you up to date on some of the many discussions surrounding Apple over the past seven days, as well as Forbes’ weekly digest of Android news.
Attendees pose for a selfie with Apple CEO Tim Cook (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Apple Announces New iPhone Features
In a white paper published this week, Apple outlined several new approaches to improving device repairability and extending battery life. True Tone and Battery Meter features, accessible through third-party parts installed in your iPhone, will be part of the iOS 18 update.
“Currently, battery health metrics, such as maximum capacity and cycle count, are not displayed to consumers who own devices with third-party batteries because Apple cannot verify the accuracy of these metrics…As part of our efforts to improve support for third-party batteries, starting in late 2024, Apple will display battery health metrics with a notice that Apple cannot verify the information presented.”
(MacRumors).
New iPhone, new case, new clues
Thanks to the latest case leak for the iPhone 16, we now have a look at three key features that Apple will have on its base iPhone in 2024. Two new buttons will be added, an action button and a camera button, while the tweaks made to the camera to support Apple’s incredible AR headsets point to the interoperability that Apple has been promoting.
“These have changed from a diagonal arrangement on the iPhone 15’s square camera island to a vertical arrangement on a more diamond-shaped island. This doesn’t affect regular photos and videos taken with iPhone, but the lens alignment makes it possible to use the lenses side-by-side when recording in landscape mode, which is the orientation needed to shoot the stereoscopic video that enables 3D playback on Apple Vision Pro headsets.”
(Forbes).
The long wait for Mac’s M4
Apple announced the M4 chipset in the iPad Pro last month. While the Apple Silicon M series has been in the iPad Pro before, it’s primarily seen as a Mac chip. The Mac community will have to wait about six months for the M4 to make it into Macs, MacBooks, and iMacs.
“The entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro is expected to feature the M4 chip, while the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models will be updated to the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips. The Mac mini will feature the M4 and M4 Pro chips. MacBook Air, Mac Studio and Mac Pro models won’t be updated to the M4 chip until 2025, and it’s not yet clear when the iMac will be updated with the refreshed chip technology.”
(MacRumors).
iPhone Meets Mac
Apple’s new implementation of mirroring your iPhone to a Mac display is now available through the iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia developer betas announced at WWDC last month, with a full public release planned for early October. Mirroring brings you a little closer not only to sharing control and digital realm, but also your device’s file system.
“Among the ‘More’ features is the extremely handy ability to drag and drop files from your Mac to your iPhone. On a connected Mac, notifications from your iPhone will appear on the Mac screen, and clicking on the Mac screen will open them on screen.”
(Forbes).
Apple hits retail success
Canalys’ latest report looks at laptop and tablet sales from the last quarter, and Apple is likely happy with where the two form factors stand in the market.
“This means that Apple captured 14.2% of the desktop and laptop market during the quarter. The company shipped approximately 2.102 million Macs, which is down compared to 1.723 million in the first quarter of 2023…. In total, Apple shipped 4.928 million iPads during the quarter, which is down from 5.404 million a year ago. Still, the iPad still dominates, capturing 50.8% of the market.”
(Apple Insider).
The EU’s latest App Store issues
EU regulators are challenging Apple over the implementation of third-party app stores and the ability of developers to tell consumers about alternatives to Apple’s own store.
“The tech giant has been given the opportunity to review the preliminary findings of the investigation and could avoid huge fines if it submits a proposal that satisfies the EU. The European Commission has said developers should be free to tell customers if there are cheaper app stores other than the one run by Apple.”
(BBC News).
And finally…
Apple’s focus on AAA games has led to several big name titles coming to the iPhone last year. Unfortunately, these titles were not financially successful after their release, and the following titles are considered “failures” according to the survey:
“According to Appfigures, Assassin’s Creed Mirage has been downloaded approximately 123,000 times since June 6th, but has only generated $138,000 in total revenue. The report believes this revenue level indicates that fewer than 3,000 people are willing to unlock the full game for $49.99.”
(MobileGamer.biz via Apple Insider).
Apple Loop brings you 7 Days of Highlights every weekend on Forbes. Be sure to follow us so you don’t miss any of our upcoming articles. You can read last week’s Apple Loop here, and this week’s Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also on Forbes.
[ad_2]
Source link
